REPORT TITLE:
Educational assistants


DESCRIPTION:
Makes DOE responsible for the recruitment and examination
functions of employing educational assistants.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           1632
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that educational
 
 2 assistants are valuable to the State's public school system since
 
 3 they are an essential component of classroom support that enable
 
 4 teachers to deliver quality instruction to Hawaii's students.
 
 5 Accordingly, it is critical that the department of education
 
 6 employs qualified educational assistants who are devoted,
 
 7 committed, and knowledgeable.  However, currently, there are
 
 8 approximately four hundred unfilled educational assistant
 
 9 positions.  This is because educational assistants have civil
 
10 service status, and the recruitment process for their employment
 
11 is the responsibility of the department of human resources
 
12 development.  The department of human resources development
 
13 advertises for educational assistant positions only once a year,
 
14 and the recruitment period is so lengthy that few applicants are
 
15 able to endure the time consuming process.
 
16      As a result, the department of education is forced to hire
 
17 temporary educational assistants, who, because they are employed
 
18 for only a short period, are unable to contribute the same level
 
19 of devotion, commitment, and knowledge to our State's students as
 

 
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 1 those who are employed on a permanent basis.  
 
 2      The legislature further finds that the department of
 
 3 education would be more expedient in the recruitment process for
 
 4 educational assistants, and furthermore, be better able to
 
 5 determine qualifications for, and conduct examinations of,
 
 6 educational assistant applicants.  This would allow for more
 
 7 educational assistants to be hired on a permanent basis.
 
 8      The purpose of this Act is to transfer from the department
 
 9 of human resources development to the department of education,
 
10 the recruitment and examination functions for educational
 
11 assistants.
 
12      SECTION 2.  Section 302A-635, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
13 amended to read as follows:
 
14      "[[]�302A-635[]]  Educational assistants.  All educational
 
15 assistants employed in the department shall be employed under the
 
16 provisions of chapter 76 and shall have their compensation fixed
 
17 in accordance with chapter 77; provided that:
 
18      (1)  The monthly rate of compensation so determined shall be
 
19           multiplied by ten and then divided by twelve and the
 
20           resulting amount shall be the employee's monthly salary
 
21           payable over a twelve-month period;
 
22      (2)  Weekly working hours for educational assistants shall
 
23           be established in the same manner as working hours for
 
24           teachers; and
 

 
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 1      (3)  Educational assistants shall have the same vacation and
 
 2           sick leave allowances as teachers[.]; and
 
 3      (4)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the
 
 4           recruitment and examination functions for education
 
 5           assistants under chapter 76 and 77 shall be the sole
 
 6           responsibility of the department."
 
 7      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 8 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 9      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
10 
 
11                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________
 
12 
 
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